F/K/A USA by Reed King
***Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review***
There was a time that I was really into Dystopian Novels. They presented a “world after” that could be either horrifying, struggling, or uplifting in the face of change. (Most were horrifying). I can understand that and find the entertainment/learning value in novels that represent all that is bad about our world eventually destroying it. What makes F/K/A USA by Reed King different from these is that it adds a touch of humor and, for lack of a better way to describe it, a sense of the humanity the characters are striving to save.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
As a book reader there are times that I wish the world I was reading was the world I was living in. The vast differences in characters, ambitions, dreams, abilities, and above all magic that they have makes the real world seem dull in comparison. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is one of those books.
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
#WritingPromptsWednesday
“For as long as you can remember you’ve had this weird dream: You’re lying on a metal table, a light in your face, a dark silhouette stands above you. ‘She isn’t ready. Send her back.’ the voice says. Then you wake up. Tonight you sleep, except this time the voice says, ‘She’s ready. Pull her out.'”
https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/bdslsz/wp_for_as_long_as_you_can_remember_youve_had_this/Wednesday, April 10, 2019
#WritingPromptsWednesday
“You’re taking a break outside your office building in a city. Listening to music you unconsciously tap your foot to the tune, but suddenly the sidewalk falls out from under you. You hear a voice in your head, ‘Correct. Access granted.'”
https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/bbi3gv/wp_youre_taking_a_break_next_to_a_skyscraper_or/The Jet Sex: Airline Stewardesses and the Making of an American Icon by Victoria Vantoch
It is a great opportunity to be gifted the chance to read a book dealing with a part of history that you may never have thought to read about before, but the instant you are made aware of it you get really excited about what you will learn.
That’s as close of a description to how I felt when The Jet Sex by Victoria Vantoch was the next book chosen in my Book Club. You can say you are aware of the gilded age of flying, that you can assume how the lifestyle was, but until you actually read an academic dissertation on the subject, you’ll never now how your eyes will be forever opened.
The Year the Swans Came by Barbara Spencer
***Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review***
I’m going to make this clear from the beginning. This is not a fantasy book. It is a surrealistic story at best and a jumbled mess at worst. I say this as someone who remained hopeful until the bitter end. Despite the characters just being down right horrible and the “fantasy” elements coming so late in the book that I completely forgot that was supposed to be a thing, I somehow managed to continue with a small shred of hope that I would get the answers I was so desperately seeking from this book. However, The Year the Swans Came by Barbara Spencer left me feeling upset and unfulfilled.
My Best Friend’s Sister by Eden Burgess
***Thank you to BookSprout for an ARC in exchange for an honest review***
WARNING: Book is an Erotica, LGBTQ Romance. This is more for those who just don’t want to read about sex in general. It’s Erotica folks, so things are going to get freaky!
Seriously though, I’m not about to defend the fact that I went out of my way to request this book from BookSprout. Aside from wanting to expose myself to more LGBTQ stories, I also wanted to dip my toes into something a little risque so as to maybe influence my own writing. No, I am not writing an erotica, but it never hurts to look at love scenes from these novels. Though most read as a cheesy porno, it can be helpful. This is what I was going for and I’ll admit that My Best Friend’s Sister by Eden Burgess didn’t disappoint.
If You Feel Too Much: Thoughts on Things Found and Lost and Hoped For by Jamie Tworkowski
It’s hard to claim this book as anything but intense, but I think that is it’s intention. It is meant to make you think and more importantly it wants you to feel – something, which I think in my case it succeeded on that front.
For those who aren’t aware Jamie Tworkowski is the writer most well known for his story To Write Love on Her Arms, which gave way for a non-profit organization of the same name. It’s message is simple, yet profound. We are here, Hope is real, Help is real, Your Story is important. They help with the difficulties of depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. And If You Feel Too Much is Tworkowski’s fist full length book.
February BoTM & Gallifrey One Haul (Book Mail #4)
It is such a cliche to say that it’s been a rough two weeks, but for me it has been a rough two weeks.
Two weeks ago I attended the Doctor Who convention Gallifrey One in Los Angeles and if you are a Doctor Who fan and have never been to this amazing experience I would suggest re-evaluating your priorities and try to attend next year. It truly is the place to be for all American fans of the beloved BBC show.
Following that terrific weekend I was put out with a hard case of Con Crud (the cold that proceeds a non-stop nerd convention). To be honest I am still not completely over it, coughs linger. This is the main reason that the last two weeks have been rough, that and other personal reasons that I won’t go into here.
The point I am trying to make is that during this two week time period I have acquired a stack of books and I now have the energy to post and share them with you.
Netted – The Beginning (The Silent Red Room Saga Book #1) by K.T. Rose
**Thank you to Booksprout for an ARC in exchange for an honest review**
WARNING: This book deals with the delicate subject matter of human trafficking and the Darknet
There is a lot to unpack with this book despite it’s relatively short page length. For some reason even after reading the description I wasn’t fully prepared for what the story would deliver and even after I began reading it I still felt unprepared. If there is one thing that can send cold shivers down my spine it is the thought of the Darknet and the fact that it is actually a real thing. I have read plenty of things and listened to a number of crime podcasts that deal with this subject matter, but no matter how many times it is brought forward into my plane of understanding it still leaves me weak with nausea.
Granted, I would hope that K.T. Rose wrote Netted – The Beginning from a purely fictional point of view, but that’s the thing with this subject matter, you never really know for sure. I give kudos to her for taking on something such as this with that horrifying fact in mind and I am sure I won’t be the only reader who thinks so.
